The sustainability assessment of Indigenous and local knowledge-based climate adaptation responses in agricultural and aquatic food systems

We examine common Indigenous and local knowledgebased adaptive responses to climate change from the sustainability perspective among Indigenous and local communities globally. We draw upon an assessment of 98 peer-reviewed articles to access how local-level responses interact with the broader sustainability dimensions of social, economic, and environmental. We focus on five adaptive responses: 1) community-based adaptation, 2) diversification, 3) local governance and conflict resolution schemes, 4) land, soil, and water management, and 5) traditional weather forecast. Using sustainability framing, we illustrate how these adaptive responses can be both resilient and vulnerable. We argue that long-term successful adaptation to climate change should aim to avoid any increase in, and instead should decrease, vulnerability related to the social (e.g. loss of social bonds and mutual support), economic (e.g. insecure income), and an urgent need to discuss successful adaptation to climate change from a holistic approach that includes long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability aspects.